Getting The Entrance Tickets Can Be a Bit Tricky…
For most of us, preparing to see and exhibit, a show, a monument or even an ancient structure requires tickets that can be easily bought online. Tikal, however, is not the case. You cannot buy tickets online. Moreover, there are only a handful of places to buy tickets and if you are arriving the evening before a sunrise tour of Tikal, you will really have to plan ahead of time. We worked with our hotel, through Facebook DM, to help arrange tickets. It was not the easiest arrangements, but Roberto, from The Jungle Lodge (our hotel), was very kind and helpful. Here is the information on Tikal tickets.
Tickets for Tikal can be purchased at the main gate (not the park entrance) at Banrul bank. Keep in mind it opens at 6:00AM and closes at 6:00PM They can also be purchased at La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City, at the Flores Mundo Maya International Airport or at the immigration building in Melchor de Mencos (on the Belize- Guatemala border, on the Guatemalan side) before arriving into the park.
Park guards will only accept bank deposit slips as proof of purchase and give you the appropriate bracelets. This is because they cannot accept cash nor take any payments at the TIKAL NATIONAL PARK’s gate.
Park tickets are $20.00(250 Q) and then there is a $13 park entrance fee (100Q).
IF you are doing the sunrise tour, you must have two tickets to enter the park. One ticket will cover from 4:00AM- 6:00AM. The next ticket will cover your entrance from 6:00AM-5:00PM. The cost for the sunrise ticket is about $34.00 and the daytime ticket is about $20.00 depending on exchange rates. Children under 12 enter for free.
IF you do a sunrise tour, tickets for that tour must be bought the day before. The ticket office (Banrul Bank) at the main gate does not open until 6:00am. Buy them a day ahead!
You can arrange for your hotel to purchase the tickets before hand and some hotels will include it in the price of the stay. We had our hotel purchase our tickets ahead of time as we were arriving straight into Flores in the evening.
Getting to Tikal and Where to Stay
We flew into Belize city and took a puddle hopper into Flores. You can also fly from Guatemala City or go via bus which will take about 9 1/2 hours. I highly recommend staying on site. There are three hotels on site. This way, when you wake up for the sunrise tour, you are literally right there to start your hike. We stayed at the Jungle Lodge Hotel. It is a moderate hotel that also has a hostel side with shared bathrooms.
We stayed in a “deluxe” room with a private bathroom. The windows were screens only. This way, you could lulled to sleep by the sounds of the jungle. I had originally stayed there in 1999, since this time the hotel has been drastically upgraded. However, be aware that at certain hours of the day an night, they do shut off the electricity to conserve power.
The Sunrise Tour of Tikal
We arrived to the meeting point for our tour at 4:15AM, grabbed a coffee and our boxed lunch from the hotel and made our way out to meet our guide for the tour. Let me reiterate, that for the tour you will need two entrance tickets. One for the pre-dawn hours (4am-6am) and one for the day hours (6am to closing). Our hotel was kind enough to purchase our tickets before our arrival as you cannot buy them online. You can only purchase tickets at certain banks (one in the airport in Flores), but we arrived after closing hours and would not have been able to buy them.
Our guide brought us to the check-in stand–I say that loosely as it was a cart table–and we were given wrist bands for the day. We were off strolling through the jungle in the dark with only headlamps and flashlights to lead the way. With the exception of our guide speaking, the jungle was quiet and dark. We turned our lights off and looked up at the starry sky. It had been forever since I had seen that many stars. It was unbelievable the amount of stars and such clarity.
Along our walk we did encounter an enormous spider, size of my hand, and came across some temples and ruins.
Our guide did stop to tell us about some of the ancient artifacts along the way. One of was a massive slab depicting the Mayan calendar. Our guide went into detail describing the slab and how the Mayans used the Lunar calendar.
This was all before arriving to the Temple where we would hopefully watch the sunrise over Tikal. When we finally arrived to Temple IV, the temple used to view the sunrise, we climbed wooden stairs that were put in place so that tourists would not have to climb the original stairs of the temple as they are in bad shape. A crowd had gathered at the top and everyone sat in silence as the dawn arose. The jungle came to life, birds awoke and howler monkeys made their presence known.
It was amazing to be above the tree tops watching this phenomenon. We take for granted the miracle that the dawn brings every day. The kids loved watching and listening, trying to identify the animals making the noises they heard during the sunrise tour of Tikal. You cannot replicate the experience and I highly recommend the adventure. Especially with kids 5 and older. The younger ones I would worry about getting too close to the edge, or not really understanding the draw of listening to the jungle wake up with the sun.
We spent a bit more time in Tikal with our guide learning about the Mayans and the structures within the area. The kids had the chance to climb some of the temples and loved discovering the fauna and flora within the area and searching for toucans. Our day ended by 11:30 and we were back at the hotel headed to the pool for a swim and lunch. We also had a nice rest and took some time to relax, shower, and watch spider monkeys frolic in the trees.
Important Tips for Tikal:
- Bring plenty of water, snacks, hats and sunscreen. It may start out cool, but will get hot very quickly.
- There is only one snack stand at the park and they charge tourist prices (that means you will pay a lot for a bottle of water).
- Try to get there early before it gets hot.
- There is no age minimum on the tour. Kids will walk for several miles and for the better part of the day. If your kid can’t walk that far, either bring some type of kid carrying back-pack or consider holding off a little longer. Our 8-year old did great.
- Bring good walking shoes.
- Do not stray from the paths as it is dense jungle and you can get lost very easily.
Although many temples have wooden staircases built next to the temples for easier access to the top, some do not. So if you are climbing the original stairs, going up is easier than coming down. Be careful.
LIKE IT? PIN IT!
Where to Eat
Imperial Maya Comedor- Located Near the Main Entrance to the Park
Hands Down the Best Homemade Salsa Picante I Ever Had.
I don’t know what it was about the salsa picante here, but if I could have a lifetime supply, I’d be happy. It was the perfect blend of acid and spice with he right amount of pickled vegetables. We enjoyed our meal. The roasted chicken was tasty, and served with rice, beans, and plantains. The service is slow (Guatamalan-style), but what’s the rush when you are sitting outside in perfect weather under the stars?
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Tara
This is on my list. I love early rose tours and getting there for the amazing morning sunlight. Thank you!
Christine King
This looks like an amazing experience. There is nothing quite like a sunrise! Thanks too for all the really helpful tips on how to get tickets. This will hopefully come in very useful some day soon!
Five Family Adventurers
I hope so. I believe soon the ticket options are going to change, but don’t hold your breath!
Stephen
This is wonderful! I’ve never thought about a sunrise tour but I am 100% going to start. Thank you!
Rawan
Heading to Mexico in December. I’ve booked marked your article this would really come handy as I’m looking at another destination to fit into my trip. Would love to visit Tikal especially at sunrise!
Five Family Adventurers
It’s beautiful and in the middle the jungle.
simone
I love sunrises, and also a big fan of Maya culture, so if ever get to Guatemala (sure i will) this could be something worth to do!
Good to know about the salsa picante!
Cheers
DA Early
Great information. Oddly this is one of those places fate has demonstrated I cannot got. Three failed attempts for all different reasons. While now in my seventies you inspire me to make another attempt. Thanks.
Five Family Adventurers
Took my parents in their seventies on this trip and they loved it.
Purvi Kamaliya
I love sunrises and this tour seems to be a beautiful experience. Thanks for the information and useful details, it would be damn easy for me to book it.
Michelle
Who was your guide? We visited Tikal last year and hired Roxy Ortiz to be our guide, I know she does sunrise tours. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to plan our trip to fit the sunrise tour but it would have been an amazing experience! If we ever go back there, this is something we will definitely be making time for.
Five Family Adventurers
WE did not have Roxy, but Eduardo who has been around the ruins sine a young child as his father also worked with some of the excavators. He was well informed and knowledgable as he has a masters in Mayan History and works with UPenn. What amazed me was he smoked like a chimney and yet still blew us away on the trail.
Anjali W
The sunrise tour does sound very interesting. It must have been an awesome experience doing this tour during the sunrise hours. I would love to visit Tikal to know more about the Mayan culture and the temples, Thanks for sharing the wonderful tips!
Five Family Adventurers
An amazing and interesting culture. One I would love to learn more about.
Five Family Adventurers
Guatemala is stunning highlands, jungles, massive lakes, volcanoes plus rich history. I love it.
Valentini
Such a cute hostel /hotel in the heart of the jungle! I would love to stay there! It
sounds a great experience and I think I will add it on my Bucket list, thank you!
Five Family Adventurers
Wasn’t as cute in 1999, but did give it that “rustic” feel. I’m glad they updated it.
The Girl Next Door
Tikal sounds like such an amazing place! Lovely pictures! I’m sure I would love to visit here some time. 🙂
Lingue e Viaggi
Never thought about visiting Tikal. You opened my mind to a new adventure.
Sinjana Ghosh
such a scenic place. definitely a must-see in Guatemala
Krupa
Such a great post & quite informative. All the pictures looks so good and appealing to visit this place. Thanks for sharing & keep up the good work.
Pujarini Mitra
Mayan civilisation has always intrigued me and I would love to visit Tikal someday. Saving this for later.
Trails Unblazed
This looks like quite an experience. We loved Costa Rica and have been dying to go back to Central America. We are torn between Guatemala and Nicaragua.
Five Family Adventurers
Guatemala hands down. I think there have been some issues lately in Nicaragua, but I want to go as well. Guatemala won’t disappoint.
Kavita Favelle
This is one of those lifetime experiences I think, and I’d love to do this myself. I have worried about hiking in the dark, my steps are not steady at the best of times, and that steep climb up the ruin in the dark? Is it quite hard going?
Five Family Adventurers
My 70+ year old parents did it. With headlamps and a guide they were fine. I don’t know your skill or restrictions, but it’s about a 40 minute walk not too hilly.
Jim Jones
Great advice for a once-in-a-lifetime trip! I’m typically an early riser so this trip would be just the thing for me. You gave very detailed advice on how to get tickets as well as how to be prepared…this will really help if I ever get to make this trip!
Five Family Adventurers
I hope you do
Claire
The sunrise tour sounds amazing despite all the challenges in getting hold of the tickets for it! Would love to go on that tour someday!! 🙂
Shweta
I LOVE seeing ancient sites in the morning, lesser crowds, cooler weather, the beauty all around, the early wake up is absolutely worth it.
Daniel
Wow this looks like an amazing place! Your article just made me add another place to my bucketlist! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Five Family Adventurers
I’m glad I could make your bucketlist grow yet again.
Doreen Pendgracs
Thank you for this fabulous post. I would love the chance to see Tikal. It is a part of Guatemala that I find most intriguing.
Five Family Adventurers
The Mayan Biosphere is beautiful. They just uncovered a site even larger than Tikal. Two day hike to get there from the start point.
Pam
Wow, this looks beautiful! My boys would love walking through the jungle at night!
Pam
Looks amazing – and like it was well worth the effort to put it together!
Kristie
It’s tempting on a trip to sleep in…you’re on vacation, right? But good for you for seizing the opportunity to see a beautiful sunrise in a fantastic setting! Looks like an experience you’ll always remember.
Five Family Adventurers
There was no sleeping on this one! Actually we did take 3 days on the beach in Belize so that was time to rest.
Lauren
We did a similar tour on our honeymoon, it’s so beautiful! I would love to take our son back, but I’m thinking 4 would be a bit young…thanks so much for sharing!
Five Family Adventurers
I saw 4 year olds, but it is a long trek and a lot of climbing. So depending on the child…
Janine
What an amazing hike. I imagine that it is just breathtaking at sunrise.
Jen
This is just beautiful. I hope to get there someday when my little people can handle it on their own. And thanks for ticket tips—such valuable info!
Missy
Waking up early is easy to do when you get to have that kind of an adventure. The water and snack tips are great.
Neha
If I ever go to Tikal, I will definitely take this sunrise tour as recommended by you. To be honest, I had not heard of this place before. But upon reading your article I googled up a bit. Historical places like these intrigue and interest me a lot. Adding it to my list.
Five Family Adventurers
I love learning about new places. I’m glad I could introduce Tikal. It’s a big world.
Shirley
Beautiful! I love your photos (even the spider!), they make me want to pack my bags and go!
Five Family Adventurers
I wasn’t happy about running into the spider, but had to take a pic 🤣
Kirstie
Although hiking through the jungle at night kinda scares me HAHA I definitely think this would be WELL WORTH IT!!! I can’t imagine sitting and watching a cooler sunrise!!!
Sandy N Vyjay
An event that occurs every day never fails to amaze us. We are fanatic about sunsets and chase the sun wherever possible. Tikal with its Mayan heritage seems a mystical place to catch the sunrise. It must be an experience beyond words and pictures, something that can be only felt.Hope to see the sun rising at Tikal someday.
Amrita Sen
Wow, I can imagine how the sunrise would look at Tikal. It looks like such an amazing experience also along with the experience of walking through the jungle. I always love to see sunrises and hope to see this sometime.
Natashia Ogunyemi
I have added this to my bucket list. I teach 5th-grade social studies and we discuss this. I wish I had enough money or could simply get permission to take the students on a field trip of this magnitude. They would really get a real-world experience and possibly see something they may never see in real life.
Yukti
Waking up early to go for such an adventurous and beautiful trip to watch a lovely sunrise must be a memorable trip. As Gautemala is on my wishlist, I am adding all these tips given by you to this list. Thanks for sharing all necessary information!
Five Family Adventurers
I hope you get there soon.